Antibes, or Antibes-Juan-les-Pins to give the commune its full title is a lively old port at the heart of a big, modern town.  It is full of pretty squares and narrow back streets with evocative names like the Place de Safranier and the Cours Masséna, where the covered market echoes to the cries of the traders every morning.

Antibes is, like Menton, among the elite of the older attractions of the South of France, in that these two, and a few other places, have best survived the onslaught of mass tourism.  What has to some extent saved it is its position tucked away on the eastern side of the rocky peninsula that is Cap d’Antibes.  This means that, like other favoured capes in the Mediterranean, the main motor routes that scar the coast from end to end shoot across the neck of the peninsula, so that you have the two-fold advantage of relative ease of access and a comforting detachment from the main stream of traffic.

Antibes makes the best of both worlds – the old and the new.  There is still a pleasant combination of normal, busy day-to-day life in an ancient centre of civilisation and the thriving activity of a contemporary small port.  Small wonder that so many artists and writers have been drawn to the place.  Graham Greene lived here for many years.

Antibes belongs not only to tourism, but to history.  Founded on the site of a Ligurian camp during the 5th century BC by the Greeks (Phocaeans) who were already established in Marseille (Masillia), the town was part of a chain of trading posts and was originally called Antipolis meaning ‘the town opposite’, a reminder of its situation facing across the bay to Nice.  Indeed, history-proud residents still like to call themselves Antipolitains as an alternative to Antibois.  However, the Greek colonists had problems with the Ligurian tribes and the Romans stepped in during the second century AD, eventually taking over the whole area.  Antibes, like Marseille, held out for a long time, but in the end a Roman fortified settlement rose on the site of the Greek acropolis, where the Château Grimaldi now stands.  Successive invasions and battles wrought havoc and in the 19th century a new town was built to the west of the old one, with its centre in what is now the Place de Gaulle.

Dominating the walled harbour is the imposing Fort Carrée, which is all that remains of the fortifications built by Vauban.  The Kings of France were well aware of the dangerous position of the town close to the Franco-Savoyard frontier in the 14th century.  The structure of the 12th century castle, which Henri IV acquired from the Grimaldis, is that of a Roman castrum.  Partly reconstructed in the 16th century, it is interesting to visit and includes a fine archaeological collection, as the beginnings of Antibes, like so much of Provence, go back to antiquity.  Roman occupation followed the Greeks until the Barbarian invasion which destroyed the city.

The Antibois of the new town and the Antipolitains of the old are equally proud of the care with which the houses clustered within the ramparts have been restored and preserved.  The massive ramparts have, on occasion, prevented the old town from being flooded by the sea.

Overlooking massive seventeenth century fortifications, the Château Grimaldi now houses the Picasso Museum.  One floor is dedicated to paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics by Picasso, most of it the inspired output of one year, 1946, when he lived at the Château.

The former cathedral dates from the twelfth to seventeenth centuries and has a good Renaissance altarpiece (the Brea School) in the south transept.

The old Port Vauban is also attractive and a high-level walkway around the harbour and Château gives a good panoramic view of the coastline.  Port Vauban was converted to yacht marina in 1970 and can take 1 500 boats.

Geography

Antibes is tucked away on the eastern side of a rocky peninsula.

Economy

Antibes has a big industry centred around yachts, yacht brokering and crewing.  It also depends on tourism.

Tourism

Picasso Museum at the Château Grimaldi – a bishop’s palace during the Dark Ages, this building then fell into the hands of the Grimaldi lords of Monaco, before becoming the seat of the royal governors of the region.  Chateau Grimaldi was Picasso’s studio in 1946 and he donated most of the works he produced there to the town.  Paintings, drawings, murals and cement structures were donated in the 1950s, along with 25 ceramic pieces produced at Vallauris.  Also has work by Modigliani.

Twenty contemporary artists from Adami to Viallat, paid homage to the master with their collection called ‘Bonjour Monsieur Picasso’.  There are also modern works by Léger, Calder, Picabia, Hartung, Magnelli and Nicolas de Staël.  The terrace leads to a garden overlooking the sea where stone and bronze sculptures by Germaine Richier, Miró and Bernard Pages are displayed among the flowers and trees.

The museum is currently undergoing renovation and will re-open in the summer of 2013.

Musée d’archéologie

The Bastion has housed the Archaeology Museum of Antibes since 1963 and displays land and underwater findings.  Discover the entire history of the city and surrounding towns through the permanent exhibits.

Preserved in the archaeological section of the museum there is, among the Graeco-Roman remains of Antipolis, what must be one of the most touching relics, a stone tablet in memory of as 12-year old boy.  This youth came to the city with a company of actors and dancers towards the end of the second century BC, danced for two days to the delight of his audience, and died.  Neither the exact date not the cause of death is stated,  but seven palm leaves in bas-relief symbolise the seven stars by which navigators find the North Star and thereby the dancing boy’s name, Septentrion.

Musée Navale and Napoléonien

Today this modern and well maintained museum is under the guardianship and management of the local council and houses a number of artefacts.  Among a range of items you’ll find a statue of Napoleon on horseback, by Renault, and rare specimens of sabres, swords, guns and pistols from the Napoleonic era.  There’s also a collection of lead soldiers depicting various uniforms, including one used by Napoléon in the Marengo campaign.  Glass doors lead you to the Sella Tour which comprises two large circular rooms.

Here you’ll find many statuettes, objets d’art and souvenirs exhibited.  Linking the two rooms together is a small narrow staircase that leads out onto the terrace.  Well protected by guardrails, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the sea and surrounding countryside.

Musée Peynet

Created in 1989 by the municipality of Antibes as a recognition to one of the most celebrated honorary citizens, the artist Raymond Peynet, creator of ‘Peynet’s lovers’, the museum rests in the shade of the plane-trees of the picturesque Place Nationale.  It welcomes the visitors in air conditioned rooms where one can find more than three hundred works of the artist (lithographs, gouaches, China inks, porcelains, dolls, watercolours etc).

Old Fort Carré on edge of town has defended Antibes since the sixteenth century.  You can look around it and also attend sporting and cultural events held there.

Beaches

Between them Antibes and Juan-les-Pins have 25km (16 miles) of coast and 48 beaches slotted into rocky creeks or opening out into sandy expanses.  The prettiest is La Garoupe, on an inlet of the peninsula.  It is highly fashionable and very crowded, but with good reason.  Main town beach – small sandy Plage de la Gravette by the old port.  There are a number of other beaches (including La Garoupe and Salis) towards the Cape before the long stretches of Juan-les-Pins.  Plage de la Siésta – offers a range of adrenaline sports including bungee-jumping, waterskiing and parascending.

Club Nautique d’Antibes – windsurfing, dinghy and catamaran sailing and yacht charters for all levels with crewed yachts available by arrangement.  Boulevard James Wyllie.

Gardens

Parc Thuret, Cap d’Antibes – many rare plants.  11k (7 miles) of walking trails and a freshwater lagoon.

Villa Eilen Roc Gardens.  Charles Garnier, designer of Monte Carlo Casino, built this magnificent villa set in a park of 11 hectares (27 acres) with trees from all over the world

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